1937 “Hindenburg disaster: The German zeppelin Hindenburg catches fire and is destroyed within a minute while attempting to dock at Lakehurst, New Jersey. Thirty-six people are killed.”
0878 – Battle of Edington: Alfred the Great and his West Saxon army defeat Viking army of Guthrum the Old [earliest possible date]
1476 – Emperor Frederik III of Habsburg & duke Charles the Stout arrange marriage of their children
1527 – Spanish and German troops sack Rome; some consider this the end of the Renaissance. 147 Swiss Guards, including their commander, died fighting the forces of Charles V during the Sack of Rome in order to allow Pope Clement VII to escape into Castel Sant’Angelo.”
1529 – Babur defeated the Afghan Chiefs in the Battle of Ghagra, India.
1536 – King Henry VIII orders translated Bibles be placed in every church.
1576 – The peace treaty of Chastenoy ended the fifth war of religion.
1682 – King Louis XIV moved his court to Versailles, France.
1733 – First international boxing match: Local fighter Bob Whittaker beats “The Venetian Gondolier”, Tito di Carni at James Figg’s academy amphitheatre in Marylebone, London
1753 – French King Louis XV observes transit of Mercury at Mendon Castle
1757 – Battle of Prague – A Prussian army fought an Austrian army in Prague during the Seven Years’ War.
1794 – In Haiti Toussaint Louverture changes sides, ambushing his former ally the Spanish at San Raphael
1806 – London announces a blockade of the European coast from Brest to the Elbe May 6 but permits ships from neutral nations to pass if they are not carrying goods to or from enemy ports
1835 – James Gordon Bennett published the “New York Herald” for the first time.
1851 – The mechanical refrigerator was patented by Dr. John Gorrie.
1861 – Arkansas became the ninth state to secede from the Union.
1877 – Chief Crazy Horse surrendered to U.S. troops in Nebraska.
1882 – The U.S. Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act. The act barred Chinese immigrants from the U.S. for 10 years.
1889 – The Universal Exposition opened in Paris, France, marking the dedication of the Eiffel Tower. Also at the exposition was the first automobile in Paris, the Mercedes-Benz.
1906 – Tsar Nicolas II of Russia claims right to legislate by decree and restricts the power of the Duma (Russian Parliament)
1910 – Kind Edward VII of England died. He was succeeded by his second son, George V.
1915 – Babe Ruth hit his first major league home run while playing for the Boston Red Sox.
1919 – Paris Peace Conference disposes of German colonies; German East Africa is assigned to Britain & France, German Southwest Africa to South Africa
1935 – The Works Progress Administation began operations following and executive order signed by President Frankin D. Roosevelt.
1937 – The German airship Hindenburg crashed and burned in Lakehurst, NJ. Thirty-six people were killed.
1938 – Dutch writer Maurits Dekker sentenced to 50 days for “offending a friendly head of state” (Hitler)
1941 – Joseph Stalin assumed the Soviet premiership.
1942 – During World War II, the Japanese seized control of the Philippines. About 15,000 Americans and Filipinos on Corregidor surrendered to the Japanese.
1945 – Axis Sally delivers her last propaganda broadcast to Allied troops (first was on December 11, 1941)
1959 – The Pablo Picasso painting of a Dutch girl was sold for $154,000 in London. It was the highest price paid (at the time) for a painting by a living artist.
1960 – U.S. President Eisenhower signed the Civil Rights Act of 1960.
1962 – The first nuclear warhead was fired from the Polaris submarine.
1966 – Myra Hindley and Ian Brady are sentenced to life imprisonment for the Moors Murders in England.
1967 – 400 students seize administration building at Cheyney State College
1968 – Spain closes border to Gibraltar except to Spaniards
1974 – West German Chancellor Willy Brandt resigns amidst controversy over his aide Günter Guillaume’s ties with the Stasi (East German secret service)
1975 – Early warnings provided by REACT (ham radio operators) means only 3 people die in tornado that strikes Omaha NE
1981 – A jury of international architects and sculptors unanimously selected Maya Ying Lin’s entry for the design of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
1987 – American televangelist Jim Bakker and Rich Dortch dismissed from Assemblies of God after revelations of an alleged rape of a church secretary
1994 – Former Arkansas state worker Paula Jones filed suit against U.S. President Clinton. The case alleged that he had sexually harassed her in 1991.
1996 – The body of former CIA director William Colby is found washed up on a riverbank in southern Maryland, eight days after he disappeared.
1997 – Four health-care companies agreed to a settlement of $600 million to hemophiliacs who had contracted AIDS from tainted blood between 1978-1985.
1999 – A parole board in New York voted to release Amy Fisher. She had been in jail for 7 years for shooting her lover’s wife, Mary Jo Buttafuoco, in the face.
2001 – Chandra Levy’s parents reported her missing to police in Washington, DC. Levy’s body was found on May 22, 2002 in Rock Creek Park.
2002 – Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn is shot and killed at close range with an illegally purchased pistol by an animal rights activist upset with Fortuyn’s policies
2010 – A computerized sell order triggered a “flash crash” on Wall Street. The Dow Jones industrials lost nearly 1,000 points in less than a half hour.
2011 – The US Department of Labor states that 244,000 jobs were created in April, with 235,000 added in February and 221,000 in March, but unemployment continues to grow, reaching 9%
2013 – 15 people are killed and 50 are injured after a bomb detonates at a political rally in Pakistan
2014 – Boko Haram’s leader, Abubakar Shekau, releases a 57 minute video boasting about abducting schoolgirls in Nigeria
2019 – French telecom company Orange and its former CEO with other executives go on trial in France for psychological harassment of their staff that unions claim resulted in 19 suicides and 12 other attempts
2020 – New York City began nightly shut downs of its subway system to allow for additional cleaning and disenfecting of cars and stations due to the Covid-19 panedemic.
REFERENCE: history.net, onthisday.com, thepeopleshistory.com, timeanddate.com, scopesys.com, on-this-day.com
